Fatboy Coxy
Airman 1st Class
- 127
- Aug 24, 2019
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The number changed during the war and as you note varied according to the type of aircraft and operations involved. Think of the requirements for Bomber Command during the Battle of Berlin versus a year later, Mosquito versus Lancaster. June 1944 to May 1945 Fighter Command lost around 3 Spitfires for each 2 Typhoons and while a larger percentage of Spitfires were held for defence the Spitfires outnumbers the Typhoons by towards 3 to 1. Fighter Command lost over 1,000 aircraft May, August and September 1940, something like a sixth of its total losses for the war. Apart from combat losses there is climate, deserts and tropics were considered to decrease aircraft lifetime, operations over the ocean meant salt water exposure. The aircraft were being used more which meant they hit their routine maintenance hours quicker. Add the training system needed to be stocked in proportion to the front line strength. Torpedo bombers had the highest attrition rate, well above fighters.Hi all, would anyone have an idea whether the Air Ministry calculated on the numbers of Aircraft required monthly to keep a Squadron operational during the war.
1940 Luftwaffe staffels tended to be 9 aircraft.RAF by and large had 20 aircraft on the Sqn TOE. As the Luftwaffe had 12 aircraft as a Squadron, they overestimated their effect on the RAF during the Battle of Britain
1940 Luftwaffe staffels tended to be 9 aircraft.
The RAF initially had Initial Equipment plus Initial Reserve aircraft in a squadron, since the distinction was artificial that was replaced by Unit Equipment but many of the early war strength reports only give the authorised I.E. aircraft number.
1 January 1943, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 18, 20 and 27 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft. Coastal Command 8, 9, 12, 20 and 24 aircraft.
1 January 1944, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 18, 20, 27 and 30 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft, troop squadrons 20 or 30 aircraft. Coastal Command 9, 12, 15, 16 and 20 aircraft.
1 January 1945, Bomber Command, squadron strengths of 16, 20 and 30 aircraft. Fighter Command 18 aircraft, troop squadrons 28 or 30 aircraft. Coastal Command 9, 12, 15, 16 and 20 aircraft.
Hi Admiral Beez, I think you have to take RAF 67 Sqn into account when counting Buffalos and squadrons, as it also operated Buffalos from Burma, equipped 30 of them from the original 170, see Brewster F2A Buffalo - WikipediaIn Malaya the RAF operated four fighter squadrons equipped with Brewster Buffaloes: 21 and 453 RAAF, 243 RAF, and 488 RNZAF. To equip these four squadrons of about sixty Buffaloes, RAF Malaya Command had approximately 150 aircraft. Presumably there was a warehouse somewhere in Singapore filled with these crates.
That's more than than a 2:1 ratio of spares to operational Buffaloes, but as it was aircraft were stripped of parts to keep others flying.
I know the place.Wouldn't be a hoot if someone were to find a dozen or so crated up Buffalos.
Hi Geoffrey, thank you for this work. I don't think your going to find the missing aircraft, I think it is exactly as you suggest, they were probably awaiting a decision on repair or write off. Although the RAF contingent in personnel was large, much of it was recently arrived, as part of the planned expansion of that force, mostly ground crew and support services. I'm unsure as to what percentage were experienced men, aircraft tools had been a problem, as well as spare parts for the Buffalo, so the RAF capability to repair might be a lot less than first thought of. I find it quite believable that a considerable number of aircraft were in this grey zone. And lastly we have the loss of a lot of paper records with the fall of Singapore, which no doubt would have solved our puzzle.As of end November 1941 there were 114 reported in Malaya, 30 in Burma, 6 already lost, 2 in Britain, 1 still on the way, total 153 out of 170 received. Even if Shores has another 6 in the squadrons that still leaves a large percentage unaccounted for. The Wikipedia page makes the claim 20 were lost in training (before the fighting began?), if that is correct it implies around 14 airframes were awaiting write off, so not counted as strength, as of 8 December 1941 local time.